The Thermodynamics of the Elusive HO3 Radical
The Laboratory Astrochemistry team of the Rennes Institute of Physics, in collaboration with Professor Ian W. M. Smith of the Cambridge Department of Chemistry, published a report in Science on the 4th of June, 2010, with this title: The Thermodynamics of the Elusive HO3 Radical.
OH radicals play a critical role in the chemistry of Earth's atmosphere. Understanding atmospheric reaction networks thus requires an accurate knowledge of OH sources and sinks. One vexing question has been whether or not a significant pool of OH binds temporarily with oxygen to form HO3.
A team from the IPR in collaboration with Professor Ian WM Smith from Cambridge have succeeded in measuring the equilibrium constant for this reaction using sensitive fluorescent tracking of OH in a low temperature supersonic flow (CRESU) apparatus.
This measurement was then used to quantify the strength of the O2–OH bond, which was found to be too weak for the complexation to play a major role in the atmosphere. The research was published as a report in the journal Science on June 4, 2010:
The Thermodynamics of the Elusive HO3 Radical
Science 4 June 2010: Vol. 328. no. 5983, pp. 1258 – 1262
DOI: 10.1126/science.1184459
Authors
- Sébastien D. Le Picard (IPR) - sebastien.le-picard@univ-rennes1.fr
- Meryem Tizniti (IPR)
- André Canosa (IPR)
- Ian R. Sims (IPR) - ian.sims@univ-rennes1.fr
- Ian W. M. Smith (Cambridge) - iwms2@cam.ac.uk
Institut de Physique de Rennes
Équipe : "Astrochimie Expérimentale"
UMR 6251 du CNRS, Bât. 11c
Université de Rennes 1
Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 RENNES Cedex, France.
The University Chemical Laboratory
Lensfield Road
Cambridge
CB2 1EW
U.K.